The caption on page C1 on December 18 accompanying pictures of sightseers viewing frosty conditions on Tai Mo Shan the previous day should have said the temperature there reached a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius, not 3 Celsius as reported.

The government is facing mounting pressure to exempt professional drivers from a proposed engine idling ban on very hot days - with not only lawmakers united in supporting the request, but major green groups also backing down on their 'no more exemptions' stance.

Taxi and minibus drivers said the next few weeks were the perfect time for the environment minister to test the temperature inside a vehicle with no air conditioning if he really meant to understand professional drivers' problems with a proposed law to ban idling engines.

The weather will remain cold today and tomorrow. The Observatory forecasts the minimum temperature will be about 10 degrees Celsius this morning in urban areas, and a few degrees lower in the New Territories. The Senior Citizen Home Safety Association said 1,713 elderly people pressed alarms installed at their homes yesterday, and 83 of them were admitted to hospital.

The mercury took a nosedive from 19 degrees Celsius in the morning to 11 degrees in some areas yesterday. The Observatory issued a cold-weather warning at about 4.20am as a front crossed Guangdong's coast. Today will be cloudy with rain patches and temperatures of between 11 and 14. The gloom is tipped to last until the weekend, when the temperature should rise to 20.

Another cold snap is about to hit the city, the second of the winter, forecasters at the Hong Kong Observatory said yesterday. A winter monsoon from the mainland is expected to arrive in the city tonight with temperatures to plunge as low as 12 degrees Celsius in urban areas by the weekend, and a few degrees lower in the New Territories.

The Observatory recorded an average temperature of 26.24 degrees Celsius last month, making it the fifth-hottest October in the city on record. The average temperature last month was exceeded only by the 26.5 degrees last year, the 26.4 degrees that was recorded in both 1983 and 2006, and the 26.3 degrees in 1891.

The Observatory says last month was the hottest August since 1963, with 14 'very hot' days - those of 33 degrees Celsius or above - one day less than 1962. The mean temperature was 29.4 degrees, 1 degree above normal. It was also drier than usual, with total rainfall at 334.1mm, about 25 per cent below normal. The weather today will again be very hot.

The lowest urban temperature this winter, 9.8 degrees Celsius, was recorded early yesterday - and temperatures are expected to fall further. Minimums averaged 10 degrees in urban areas and 8 degrees in the New Territories. Ngong Ping hit a low of 3.6. The Observatory forecast temperatures would fall to 9 degrees overnight, with a high of 15 degrees today.

The temperature is expected to fall over the next few days, dropping to a minimum of 12 degrees Celsius by New Year's Eve. The Observatory said a cold front, formed over the northern part of southern China, was expected to move towards Guangdong today. The weather over the next few days was expected to be cloudy with a few rain patches.

October was the warmest since records were first kept in 1884, with a mean temperature of 26.5 degrees Celsius, the Observatory said. Autumn as a whole equalled the record set in 2005 for warmest ever, with a mean temperature of 25.8 degrees. September was the warmest since 1969, with a mean temperature of 29 degrees, 1.4 degrees above normal.

The Observatory has reminded the public to be cautious, saying temperatures in the New Territories could drop to around 10 degrees Celsius. Last night, the temperature dropped under 20 degrees across the city. The mercury in urban areas might drop to around 14 degrees today and would be two to three degrees lower in rural areas. The high today will be about 19 degrees.